Buy it... if you admire Hans Zimmer's most lyrical and beautifully
harmonic works, among which Beyond Rangoon is a gorgeous
powerhouse.

Avoid it... if the lovely contributions of female voice and ethnic
woodwinds cannot compensate for the overbearing bass produced without
mercy in the composer's standard electronic style of the era.

EDITORIAL REVIEW

FILMTRACKS TRAFFIC RANK: #366

WRITTEN
9/24/96, REVISED 9/13/08

BUY IT

Zimmer

Beyond Rangoon: (Hans Zimmer) Director John Boorman
is no stranger to the action genre set in exotic locations, and
Beyond Rangoon is a thrilling variation of every American
tourist's worst nightmare come true. The story places an American doctor
and her sister on a vacation in Burma, but when the main character's
passport is stolen, she becomes separated from her tour group. While
waiting for a replacement, she witnesses a government crime that she was
not supposed to see, ending up on the run for her life. The edgy
atmosphere in Beyond Rangoon, or any Boorman film for that
matter, is balanced by the almost serene visual beauty of the locations
of filming. This production's breathtaking cinematography of Burma is a
blatant contrast to the horror of the story, so the job of composer Hans
Zimmer was to write a score that would root its disturbed nature in an
atmosphere of weighty, but lovely harmony. Zimmer wrote Beyond
Rangoon at roughly the same time as The Lion King, marking an
enormously busy period for the composer even before his Academy Award
win. As he would do several times in the mid-1990's, Zimmer brought his
vast array of synthesizer technology to the table, supplementing it with
a small handful of traditional instruments and soloists to mask the
harsh sound of the electronics. The composer admitted to being initially
somewhat nervous about scoring Beyond Rangoon because of his
enormous respect for John Boorman, as well as the director's keen
knowledge about musical styles and construction. At the same time, the
prospect of working with Boorman was equally inspiring, because the
director's films, as mentioned above, always seem to offer composers
spectacular visuals to accompany the music. While the scores for Boorman
thrillers haven't always been the melodic types, Zimmer approached the
project with a very lyrical result in mind, eventually providing one of
the most lush and romantic sounds of his career. The style isn't
considerably different from that of a morbidly depressing work like
The House of the Spirits, especially in the overpowering bass
region, but the statements of themes (which are themselves reminiscent
of Zimmer scores going back to Backdraft) are so colorful that
they alone redeem the score as one of uplifting inspiration.

The success of Beyond Rangoon for Zimmer begins
with his choice of instrumentation. The electronics, despite their
inherent weaknesses in expressiveness, are used primarily as
bass-driving devices, providing a steady, droning rhythm and occasional
sharp hit for moments of fright. This is how Zimmer creates the horror;
the score is extremely heavy in the bass, not only in the mixing of the
recording, but also by design. By doing this, Zimmer avoids the
stereotypical crashing of the upper range electronics (except, perhaps,
in "Village Under Siege") that would tarnish lesser Media Ventures
scores like The Rock. With the synthesizers (and moderate string section)
restrained to a supporting role, the truly wonderful instruments of the ensemble
can shine. The ethnic flutes and pipes performed by Richard Harvey are the
central voice of the score, offering a convincing feel for the culture
of Burma while also soothing the listener. Upper and lower range pipes
alternate in performances opposite a mournful female voice. The ethereal
wordless vocals offer an additional sense of beauty to the location and
drive the spirit of the female characters in the film. Often in the
background behind these performances are ethnic bells and chimes that
cause a significantly watery effect on the score. These four elements
together form a strikingly cohesive ensemble, performing often with
awesome beauty and representing an attention on subtle texture that
Zimmer largely abandoned in his later, more predictable blockbuster
scores. Their roles wouldn't be as impressive if not for Zimmer's nearly
constant presentation of thematic harmony. With very slow tempi from the
outset, the themes are elegant though simple, and their deliberate pace
allows the gravity of the performances to sink in even further. The
repetitive, but fluid construct of these rhythms is similar to parts of
Toys, especially with the very heavy bass electronics, though the
instrumentation foreshadows the most elegantly appealing stylistic
aspects of The Prince of Egypt. Overall, the recording quality of
Beyond Rangoon is extremely clear, and it is mixed with a wet
sound that suggests an almost dreamy state in which the plot is taking
place. The final suite on the album (which was released a year after the film's
debut) is a stunning piece that compensates for the occasionally overbearing cues
earlier on the product. This is, without a doubt, a hidden Zimmer gem from
a time in his career that many of his collectors wish he would revisit once
again. ****@Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check:

For Hans Zimmer reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.94
(in 96 reviews)and the average viewer rating is 2.97
(in 275,036 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.